This invention relates to personal electronic devices. More particularly, it relates to the alarm and notification functions of smartphones.
A smartphone is a mobile phone built on a mobile operating system and having advanced computing capability and connectivity. The first smartphones combined the functions of a personal digital assistant (PDA) with a mobile phone. Later models added the functionality of portable media players, compact digital cameras, pocket video cameras, and GPS navigation units to form one multi-use device. Many current smartphones also include high-resolution touchscreens for input and web browsers that display standard web pages as well as mobile-optimized sites. High-speed data access may be provided by Wi-Fi and/or Mobile Broadband.
Wi-Fi is a widely-used technology that allows an electronic device to exchange data wirelessly (using radio waves) over a computer network, including high-speed Internet connections. The Wi-Fi Alliance defines Wi-Fi as any “wireless local area network (WLAN) products that are based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) 802.11 standards”. However, since most modern WLANs are based on these standards, the term “Wi-Fi” is used in general English as a synonym for “WLAN”.
A device that can use Wi-Fi (such as a personal computer, video-game console, smartphone, tablet, or digital audio player) can connect to a network resource such as the Internet via a wireless network access point. Such an access point (or “hotspot”) typically has a range of about 65 feet (20 meters) indoors and a greater range outdoors. Hotspot coverage can comprise an area as small as a single room with walls that block radio waves or as large as many square miles—this may be achieved by using multiple overlapping access points.
Mobile broadband is the term used for wireless Internet access through a portable modem, mobile phone, USB wireless modem, or other mobile devices. A smartphone is basically a cellular telephone with built-in applications and Internet access. In addition to digital voice service, current smartphones provide text messaging, e-mail, Web browsing, and video playback and calling. In addition to their built-in functions, smartphones can run myriad free and paid applications, turning the cellphone into a mobile personal computer.
In addition to radio transmitters and receivers for interacting with cellular telecommunications systems, many smartphones have additional sensors that provide input to their various systems. For example, Apple Inc.'s iPhone® 5 smartphone includes at three-axis gyro, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor and an ambient light sensor.
The iPhone display may respond to a number of sensors. A proximity sensor deactivates the display and touchscreen when the device is brought near the face during a call. This is done to save battery power and to prevent inadvertent inputs from contact with the user's face and ears. An ambient light sensor adjusts the display brightness which in turn saves battery power. A 3-axis accelerometer senses the orientation of the phone and changes the screen accordingly, allowing the user to easily switch between portrait and landscape mode. Photo browsing, web browsing, and music playing support both upright and left or right widescreen orientations.
Certain smartphones have a “do not disturb” mode. When the “do not disturb” mode is activated (e.g., via a Settings menu), the phone suppresses most forms of communication—phone calls, text messages, alarms, social media notifications, and the like. When this mode is enabled, the phone will not light up or vibrate at all, so the user can get through a meeting or go to bed without being disturbed by the outside world. However, all of those notifications may get captured and appear in a “Notification Center” when the phone's display is turned on by the user.
The user may configure the “Do not disturb” feature to function on a predefined schedule, or may simply turn it on and off as needed. The user may also specify certain contacts—sometime designated as “VIPs”—who are allowed to get through to the user even if the phone is in “do not disturb” mode.
In certain implementations, when a call comes in, the user can choose to answer or ignore it, as usual, or may immediately reply with a text message. The user may also set the smartphone to remind him or her about the call later—either at a specific time, or when leaving the current location (as determined from the phone's location sensors).
Various options may allow the Do Not Disturb settings on a smartphone to be further customized. For example, an option for “Repeated Calls” may allow activation of a mode wherein whenever someone calls back a second time from the same number within a certain time interval, the second call will not be silenced.